When a lot of people think of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) they see an organization intent on a heavy-handed approach to stamping out piracy. Well, if their latest idea turns out to be legitimate they may end up producing something everyone finds useful.

Ars technica has news that the MPAA is possibly working on a new website whose purpose is to direct users to legal content. So, for example, if you wanted to watch a film you could visit the site, type in the name and the results would give you availability. That would include which movie theaters were showing it, where you could rent it online, if it is streamed anywhere or where you can buy a physical copy.

Apparently such a service has the backing of all the major movie studios. It would also be associated with all the major retailers and online e-tailers such as Amazon, iTunes and Netflix. It wouldn’t be generating revenue as that would be garnered from users actually buying the legal content the site points to.

Although the MPAA are keeping quiet on whether this service is in the works, it was apparently concocted based on research that showed people didn’t know where they could get legal content online and could in fact end up downloading illegal versions because of this.

Matthew’s Opinion
Could this be a case of the MPAA actually having a good idea? If the above is true then the answer is a definite yes and shows what the MPAA should be doing. Rather than trying to change laws, shutdown websites, hobbling hardware and suing individuals they should be promoting the legal routes to content.

Having a site I can go to and just type in the episode of Simpons I want to watch, getting a list of options and clicking one to view sounds ideal. In a lot of cases you can probably watch what you want for free through ad-supported sites anyway. Just look at the South Park website for a great example.

The site would not only form a useful tool, but would also allow the MPAA to say they have an infrastructure in place that promotes legal content. They may have one now, but it really isn’t that visible and I don’t know where they are promoting it. It would also play a part of educating users. Doing searches is going to bring up links to the big services that offer the content, users will visit them and then start using them regularly if the price is right.